#also timeline ??? *handwaves* it's fine

[withoutanumber]

“ can’t sleep, huh? it’s okay. it’s probably all that adrenaline and shock; i can’t sleep, either. wanna keep each other company? “ - biggs

Cloud didn't know exactly where Biggs stayed the night, generally speaking, but he was pretty sure it wasn't in the apartment complex where Tifa had found him a room. And that was where he was chilling, sitting out on the steps leading up to the second floor at midnight, watching the people go by. Midgar truly was the city that never slept.

He didn't know why Biggs was still there, other than – well, nerves, from the sound of it. Cloud himself was still buzzing with adrenaline, like Biggs had suggested, but he wasn't going to admit that. He shouldn't have been.

“Not especially,” Cloud replied flatly, knowing full well that such an answer wasn't going to deter the other man.

@vctlan

[incarnadinedreams]

What do you think about jyl's death? And how it's described? I have always find interesting how she doesn't talk to jc

Aaah, this is a tough one. It's another one where I go back and forth and change my mind or feel a bit differently each time I read it and can definitely be swayed by persuasive arguments!

On the one hand, I do think it's one of the areas of the story where she actually gets to show more agency and one of the very few scenes we actually get to see any of her thoughts directly. But on the other hand, it also feels a bit… fridgy. From like an out-of-universe level I did kinda feel like the setup for it was pretty weak. It does feel a bit like MXTX just needed to set up her tragic death that's kinda-but-not-fully WWX's fault, and there's a littttttle too much handwaving about how she got there, why she made the decisions she did, and so on. So that ends up making it feel not quite as impactful or fully fleshed-out for me as maybe it could have.

With the way the scene plays out, even though she's the one dying it still feels like her death scene is really more about WWX than it is about her, and even more about giving Jiang Cheng the final snapping point, the singular crystallized moment when his faith in Wei Wuxian truly shatters, when he realizes that Wei Wuxian really can't control it after all, that things won't be fine. So even in her death it still feels like it's a little too much about other people for my taste.

Because of that, I do go back and forth a lot about what to take from that scene and their interactions. I do appreciate that she didn't just forgive WWX for killing JZX, that what glimpses we do get of her thoughts are so interesting, I just wish it felt like it came together in a way that didn't feel quite so much like the author going "welp, time for Dutiful Elder Sister randomly show up and die tragically." Part of what I think feels awkward about the scene (again, from a more meta standpoint) is the way we've got her being seriously injuried (but not fatally) by one of the uncontrolled corpses, then a small interlude, and then her actually dying from an attack from someone else entirely.

But all that aside, I do think it is sort of the culmination of a pattern of interactions throughout their lives. Wei Wuxian at the center of a whirlwind of events, Jiang Yanli the self-sacrificing attempted mediator, and Jiang Cheng is either not involved, shows up late and confused, or is left cleaning up the pieces at the end. It ramps up throughout the pre-ressurrection timeline: first in fun, innocent ways (childhood shenanigans, their hijinks in Lotus Pier and at Cloud Recesses), then escalating again and again in scenes like the soup catastrophe at Langya or the Phoenix Mountain night hunt, until it culminates in this scene.

I don't think it's evidence that she loved Wei Wuxian more than Jiang Cheng (which I've seen floating around before, sometimes in a 'proof that JC is so awful even his sister doesn't care about him at all' sort of way), but I do think it plays into a common pattern we see playing out throughout their lives, where Wei Wuxian is simply more… attention grabbing, I guess? At least in the scenes we're shown (biased narration and all that). So much of Jiang Cheng's efforts are to follow the rules, succeed in very traditional and in-the-box ways, to be responsible and fulfill his duties, to do well enough to keep his mother happy (or at least not actively angry) without drawing too much attention or trouble. Cautious, steady, hardworking, but not flashy.

Wei Wuxian was always the opposite of that, the shining star that can't be ignored no matter what. Flashy, attention-grabbing, shameless, charming, funny, talented, all the things that set him apart in the best of times. And in the worst of times, he's the one she's there to talk to, he's the one who killed her husband (if unintentionally), he's the one with the zombie horde he can't fully control, he's the one with the Extremely Overpowered Magical Artifact, and he's the one she just sacrificed herself for. So in some ways it does naturally follow that she would be more focused on him. And as a side effect of all that, Jiang Cheng is once again just kind of… there but not the focus.

I do like to headcanon that it does bring him a lot of grief and insecurity, mostly because 'grief and insecurity' are basically Jiang Cheng's calling cards. And grief brings nearly inevitable anger, and there's a ton of juicy potential with him dealing with his secret anger at her for the choice she made, dealing with the feeling of being a helpless bystander, and feeling always second-place, even then in that moment. And of course the most forbidden question of all, why would she rather die for him than live for us?

So I think in the context of how Jiang Cheng might have felt about it (and exploring that in headcanons/fic/etc) there's a ton of potential to go absolutely buck wild with all kinds of repressed anger and resentment and have it still feel totally authentic to me, because grief is just Like That.

[stereopticons]

Twylexis! Threesome! Black Swan! I’m here for so many things 🥰🦛

Hello friend! You definitely know about two of the three but I’m happy to tell you about them more!

twylexis childhood friends to lovers:

This has been languishing in my drafts for a long time but basically the idea is that the Roses move to SC when Alexis is in grade 9 (grade 12 for David). She and Twyla become friends and Twyla falls in love with her but never says anything. Alexis gets sent to boarding school after a year and doesn’t come back to SC and she and Twyla lose touch over the years. Ten years later, Alexis shows up in SC and they reconnect. Here’s a lil snippet:

Stevie thought the Roses would be snobbish assholes, but Twyla wasn’t so sure. She’d seen pictures of David and Alexis in her mom’s gossip magazines and she thought they just looked lonely.

So on the first day of grade nine, when Alexis slips into the empty desk next to her, Twyla sticks her hand across the aisle and introduces herself.

“Hi, I’m Twyla.”

“Um, hi, I’m Alexis,” she replies, pointing (unnecessarily) at her necklace that reads ‘Alexis’ in gold script. She limply takes Twyla’s hand in hers.

“I could show you around, if you like?” Twyla offers. “It’s not a big school but they changed the classroom numbers halfway through building it, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“Oh my god, that’s like, so sweet of you!” Alexis coos. “But I once found my way out of the Longleat Hedge Maze while being chased by an angry guard, so I think I’ll be fine.”

Threesome:

@ramonaflow also asked about this one!

Ah yes, the David/Patrick/Buck fic that answers the questions a) what if Buck knew he was bi during his slut era and b) what if married David and Patrick encountered bi!slut!Buck on a trip to LA? It requires a little bit of handwaving of timelines but I’ve never let that stop me lol. Unfortunately I do not have much written of this but hopefully I’ll finish it someday.

black swan au:

I was working at the theatre for a dance competition a few weeks ago and messaged @kiwiana-writes and @indestructibleheart and was like “okay but what about a gender swapped black swan au” and received some loving screaming in response. The idea is that Alex is the perfectionist dancer trying for the role of the Swan and he has a rival thing with Henry who is also trying for the part. The trouble is the ending, so it’s more of a loose adaptation because i would like there to be a happy or at least hopeful ending. I have a bit of this written but unfortunately it fell victim to my writers block. A snippet:

When Alex looks in the mirror, he doesn’t see himself, at least not as a whole. He sees himself broken down into parts—his thighs are strong but his left knee tends to stray out of line if he’s not paying enough attention. His shoulders and arms sag when he gets tired and he has to fight to keep them up. His turn out is good, but not perfect, and therefore not good enough.

Ever since he insisted on tagging along to June’s beginner ballet class, so much of his life has been spent in front of a studio mirror, pushing himself to be just a little bit better—to make his lines cleaner, his turns neater. Over time, the dance studio became a sort of refuge for him, a place where he could pour himself into perfecting his technique to distract himself from his own reality. The day his dad left, Alex spent hours at the barre rehearsing the same eight-bar combination until June showed up and dragged him back home.

wip tag game

[thiscrimsonsoul]

oh, yeah, some mcu fans absolutely invalidate wanda's pain just because they hate her, although this happens with any mcu character they hate, not just wanda. it usually reads like WELL WANDA DIDN'T HAVE IT AS BAD AS (insert the name of any character that has been introduced to the mcu in the last three years) and it's like my brother in christ these are all fictional people calm down. I was referring to how the movies frame wanda's pain vs thor's, making him the butt of the joke constantly.

{out of paprikash} I think to some extent it's natural for people to be like "aw, she's in pain" as long as she does nothing bad. The second she does, then that changes to "shame on you," and the sympathy is gone. What I want to see is more people saying both, heh. It's okay to sympathize with Wanda while also feeling what she did wasn't right, because it wasn't, heh. It doesn't make her irrevocably evil or beyond redemption, it just means... she chose the path that got her here and now she needs to make a conscious choice to get back off that path.

That's not an easy mindset to be in, and I've really tried, with the limited threads I've been able to have post-DSMoM (not everyone is comfortable with the movie and writing in that part of Wanda's timeline, and that's fine) to have her internally come to terms with what she's done. Wanda's lied to herself a lot, and I think sometimes it's natural for us to want to sugarcoat our own bad things we've done to minimize the severity of them. I've tried to have her start really internalizing what she's done and really admit to herself that she has done some pretty unforgivable things. She's not to the point yet of forgiving herself by any means, my version, but she's at least at the point where she's no longer placing blame outside of herself. She's taking responsibility for what she's done, even if she doesn't quite yet understand how to go about redeeming herself for it.

But anyway, yes, you're right that the movies/shows frame Wanda's pain very differently from Thor's. With Wanda, they make excuses for her and keep trying to redeem her too fast. She enslaved Westview but look she freed them already, yay! She killed a whole lot of sorcerers and tried to kill a child but look she's crying and sorry and sacrificed herself to destroy the Darkhold, so that makes it all better! And we in the audience are just like... please stop telling us how to feel, heh. We just saw what she did, let it sink in. Let us feel the pain, let Wanda feel the pain, let it stand for a while. Then let's discuss recovery and redemption, if possible. I think they want Wanda to always stay likable, so the second they do anything bad with her, they try to fix it immediately, and that's starting to seriously ring hollow to viewers.

Whereas with Thor... he just got laughed at. By other characters, by the makers of the movies... he was just discarded at first. Oh look he got fat and sad, he's lazy and a sore loser. Also look, he's comic relief. Um... what? That... was offensive to a lot of people. I'm not a huge Thor fan and I thought that was terrible, I can't even imagine how people who really love him felt. So with Wanda they're trying to handwave and say nah shhh it's not that bad, and with Thor they're saying nah shhh it's not serious it's funny. Both are ways of invalidating the character's pain, just differently.

DO BETTER, MCU. That's really what it comes down to. XD

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 91: This Shouldn’t Have Been DLC

I’m going to be honest. I didn’t buy most of these DLC chapters. For a lot of them, I watch a video of the gameplay and read the script on the wiki. Why? Because I’m not giving Nintendo money for a Beach Party DLC. But, before the eShop closed, I decided to buy 9 DLC chapters. Specifically, the ones with plot significance. Hidden Truths, which I will be playing today, and Heirs of Fate, which will serve as the finale for this blog.

I am going into Hidden Truths mostly blind. I know it gives some backstory that probably should have been featured in Revelation and that it explains how Owain, Severa, and Inigo got new names and ended up in Nohr, but other than that I know nothing.

Xenologue 7: Hidden Truths 1

The chapter begins at what appears to be the great Mila tree in Valm, with Anankos talking to the Awakening trio. Okay. That’s a bold start. And this is human Anankos, with his white hood and blue hair, who does not actually appear in Revelation. These are important plot details that the game just forgot to include.

Anankos uses magic to change the trio’s hair color, handwaving away the fact that their hair color wasn’t set in Awakening. He also takes away Owain’s brand of the exalt, a birthmark that shows that he has royal blood and was a big plot point in Awakening. But that’s fine, just get rid of it without asking, Anankos.

Anankos says the trio need new names and appearances to hide their identities, which is dumb because no one in Nohr seems to have ever heard of Ylisse. Anankos asks the trio to go to Nohr and fight for him. The trio nervously accepts his plea to save his kingdom. It’s worth noting that this chapter awkwardly begins in the middle of the scene, causing the characters to explain that a few days ago Anankos came to them and asked them for help. Anankos mentions that he chose these three because they slain the Fell Dragon Grima, meaning that Fates takes place in the bad timeline where Grima didn’t actually die.

One of Anankos’s minions, specifically the Swordmaster who killed Mikoto, shows up. Anankos explains that his minions followed him from Valla to kill him. Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room. This Anankos is nice and human and not the evil one from the main game. It gets explained later. And yes, it is kinda dumb.

The trio fight, but demand Anankos explain everything after the battle. They have conversations with each other mid-battle; Owain is shaken by the loss of his brand but cheered up by Inigo; Severa complains to Inigo about having to lug a heavy suitcase to a different continent; Owain fantasizes about being turned into a Dark Mage by Anankos and asks Severa if she wants to become a Pegasus Knight, like her mother Cordelia, something that she does do at the end of the Awakening DLC Future Past.

One more thing to note, the trio use their Awakening designs. What’s more, Owain is a Myrmidon and none of them have their personal skills. This chapter only gives you three units with premade builds, making it a bit harder than I expected. After the battle, Anankos says he can’t tell the trio anything until they get to his kingdom otherwise the dumb dumb dumb curse thingy will kill him. Apparently, Anankos isn’t immune. New plan for Revelation, get Anankos to leave Valla then ask him where he’s from.

Anankos asks the gang what they want as a reward for helping him, offering eternal life and incomparable wealth. Severa asks if he’s a god and he says that he’s been called one in the past, because even good Anankos is arrogant. Owain asks if he can bring back their dead parents from the alternate timeline they come from and Anankos says it is not possible to bring the dead back to life. This is objectively untrue. You can bring people back using the Aum staff, or at a spring of revival. Fun fact, in Echoes, there is a spring of revival within walking distance of the Great Mila Tree. Anankos dumb.

Lalsow asks to restore a world that’s been decimated. Specifically, the dark future they came from. Owain notes that they’ll never see this restored world, but it’s heartwarming that they would want to save the world they abandoned anyway.

Anankos, who is apparently strong enough to do that but can’t do anything about his evil half, saves the doomed timeline and also gives graves to all the dead people. While doing this, Anakos says he was the ruler of the world when it began, which is not a detail that they ever said in Revelation. Anankos reveals that the spirits of the dead Awakening characters wished the trio luck on their new mission. Anankos also gives the gang a magic crystal ball they can use to travel to either the destroyed/restored timeline or the main Awakening timeline. But, they can only use this crystal ball once, because there are rules about time travel that only Naga is strong enough to break. Except when Anankos breaks them.

Anankos sends the gang to Nohr. He also gives them a fell brand from the ghost of Robin in the doomed timeline, which somehow ends up in the inventory of my Revelation playthrough. The chapter ends by cutting to Valla, where evil Anankos bemoans the fact that good Anankos isn’t dead. He sends Lilith, fucking Lilith of all people, to go to Nohr and kill them.

I’m doing both halves today instead of a Support because what the fuck was that ending?

Xenologue 7: Hidden Truths 2

Side note, Laslow keeps calling him Mr. Anankos, implying that either Anankos is his surname or that Laslow thinks it is. I like to think that Anankos is actually named Bob. I’m gonna call good Anakos Bob.

Bob and the trio arrive in Valla and are shocked by the floating islands. Bob explains that everyone in Valla is dead. Inigo asks why Bob would want to save a dead kingdom, because he apparently forgot what happened five minutes ago.

To explain, Bob gives his plot vital backstory that the devs forgot to include in the actual game. Anankos was a powerful dragon god that loved humanity and built Valla. He lived among them, acting as a close friend to the royal family. Unfortunately, Anankos’s animalistic urge to wreck shit grew stronger. To keep himself from ruining everything, he wrote Lost in Thought All Alone and gave it to the Vallite king. He also gave the ability to activate Dragon Veins to the Nohrian and Hoshidan royal families, so they could eventually stop him.

One day, Anankos lost control of his animal instincts and destroyed a forest. The humans got pissed and tried to slay Anankos, which made Anankos hate humanity and want to kill them all. The royal family were kind to him and visited him often to try and help him.

Anankos ended up going fully evil and killing the Vallite king. Then he killed everyone else and destroyed Valla. But, in a moment of clarity, he split off the good half of his soul and created Bob, who apparently retained ridiculous amounts of godlike power. Bob then reveals that he is actually the dragon from the story, which would be a twist if the game hadn’t called him Anankos since the moment he showed up.

Bob then reveals that he is Corrin’s father, a fucking massive plot revelation that they forgot to reveal in Revelations. Bob says he ordered Mikoto to not tell anyone about this because it would be too much for Corrin to bear. It’s like how in Star Wars Obi-Wan was an asshole and lied to Luke about his father being dead so Luke would kill his father without hesitation.

Bob asks the trio to go to Hoshido, meet up with Mikoto, and help Corrin assemble the five legendary weapons so they can kill bad Anankos. Apparently, what the trio hears is start working with the minion of Anankos who killed Mikoto and also depending on the route try to kill Corrin. Inigo says that they can’t kill Bob after meeting him, but Bob says they must, because it’s either him or mankind. Owain asks for more info on Bob’s child, then Lilith shows up. Not what he meant but that works too.

Lilith reveals that she is bad Anankos’s daughter, another big fucking plot point that they forgot to mention in Revelation. The question is, who the hell is Lilith’s mother? Did she pop out of Anankos’s head Athena style, or is there some random thirsty Vallite woman who saw a giant dragon wearing a sone mask and decided to hit that?

Lilith reveals Corrin is in Nohr before kicking the asses of Bob’s new champions. Wait a minute, why did he choose these three again? Couldn’t he have chosen Lucina, who has the magic divine sword specifically created for killing dragon gods?

Side note, evil Lilith is a fun character. She is so rude and patronizing to the Awakening trio and Bob. It’s great.

Bob begs the trio to use the crystal ball to escape, revealing he once had a vision of his daughter killing them. Which could just be him seeing the plot of Birthright. The trio refuses to leave, with Inigo saying that they’re Bob’s last hope and hope saved them in the past. It is admittedly really cool. Bob transforms the trio into their Fates designs, giving them new names, personal skills, and outfits. This does not give them better stats; in fact, they actually lose a few points in certain stats. He also gives them Dragon Blood, which allows them to utilize Dragon Veins, something that they can’t do in Fates proper for some reason.

Side note, he tells them their new names, but he never specifies who is who. I like to imagine that Anankos intended for Owain to be Selena and Severa to be Laslow and Inigo Odin.

Interesting note from the wiki: if you reclass these characters before playing the DLC, they will have their new classes from your main file. Which does not make any sense.

The trio fight Lilith and some ghost men. Once again, they have mid-battle conversations; Odin starts calling himself Odin Dark while Laslow finds his new dancing abilities to be cool; Laslow and Selena talk about how their new clothes, noting that they miss their old ones; Odin and Selena talk about how Odin is now a dark mage. This battle has our units fighting on floating continents. By using Dragon Veins, you can move the continents around, giving you an easier path to the boss, and also give a ton of OP skills to one unit. The boss is a certain blue-haired Valkerye who is fought many times in Revelation.

After escaping Lilith’s men, she summons more in a cutscene. Bob, deciding that his champions can’t win, tells them to become Nohrian retainers before sending them to Nohr. Apparently, they get amnesia as soon as they arrive because they do not acknowledge that they know about Valla once in Fates proper.

Lilith tries to kill bob, but is unable to slay her father. Bob says it would be no greater joy than to die looking at his daughter, which makes her realize that Anakos is a shitty father. Lilith then stops being evil because Bob says he loves her. Anankos decides to kill Lilith from ten miles away using his mind powers, but Bob sacrifices himself to save her. Lilith then decides to go to Nohr to find Corrin. She doesn’t meet up with the Awakening trio because reasons. She vows to not tell any plot-relevant details to Corrin, ever, because that’s what Bob would’ve wanted.

The chapter ends with Anankos cackling maniacally about how he’s going to destroy the world. Then he starts talking like Gamzee Makara and asking the Awakening trio to come kill him, because I guess he reabsorbed Bob. Also we get some Dragon Blood to use.

So, here’s my problem with these chapters. Anankos is a shitty villain in Revelation. He could have been a great villain, but he’s just a generic evil dragon with no depth. But Bob, Bob’s a great character. He spends most of the chapter giving a lengthy exposition dump, but still manages to be an interesting character. Can you imagine if he actually showed up in Revelation? If, instead of fighting some bland stone face, Corrin had to fight against their father, a good man who wants to be put down before he hurts anyone else again. It would be this amazing, bittersweet ending. Or hell, maybe Corrin could save Anankos with Azura’s song.

But no. That doesn’t happen in Revelation. Because they didn’t keep vital lore that is necessary to understand Anankos and Lilith as characters in the damn game. I hate these chapters, even though they are genuinely well written, because they make it clear how terribly written the rest of Fates is.

Also, while there is some great stuff with the Awakening trio, their presence just makes the story confusing. They came to Nohr with a mission to save the world and never do anything to achieve that goal. Hell, in Birthright, they actively fight against their mission. They don’t have any dialogue in Revelation where they reveal they were summoned by Anankos, or that he was once a good man. They just join your army and are never mentioned again.

You know, I didn’t know how much information was revealed in this DLC and was at first was worried that I shouldn’t do these chapters before Revelation. But fuck it. I am glad I played this, so I can properly point out how incredibly dumb Revelation is.

[atopfourthwall]

Ive only recently gotten into classic Star Trek so I don't think I can properly answer but what is it specifically about Discovery and recent Star Trek that classic Trek fans hate?

Putting this behind a cut because... it's a lot.

Well, first of all a big rejection of it is just on an aesthetic level. Up until the 2009 movie (which was considered a reboot, even with time travel elements), Star Trek tried to treat the original series and how it was portrayed as pretty sacrosanct. Sure, they might occasionally make jokes about goofier aspects of it and discard some of the stupider stuff (like how in the final episode, penned by Gene Roddenberry himself, that women weren't allowed to Captain starships), but how TOS looked? That's how the 23rd century looked. Buttons and multi-colored outfits and boxy computers and smooth, undetailed ships WAS what was appropriate for the time. When Scotty came back in TNG, they had him on the holodeck and it was the TOS bridge. When DS9 traveled back in time to that era for an episode? They went onto the Enterprise and visited it. When in an Enterprise 2-parter we had a TOS-era ship? It looked like a TOS ship. They even did a 2-parter on Enterprise to explain why Klingons had smooth foreheads when later (and earlier) they didn't. Star Trek up until then cared about maintaining that continuity of appearance. But Discovery is set in the TOS era... but nothing looks like TOS. Even when we got the Enterprise and those uniforms and we saw inside the ship, it was an upgraded form. The only logic I've seen people try to argue about WHY it doesn't look like it actually did was "Well, audiences won't accept something as cheap as TOS being futuristic." Well, then you've got a few responses there: -Don't set in TOS era, then. -That's horseshit, because audiences from the 90s through the 2000s accepted it just fine. Even a piece of dialogue from DS9 explained it perfectly: "I LOVE 23rd century design." It LOOKS cheap, but it was just the aesthetics of the period. And the Enterprise 2-parter it still looked good in HD. Hell, arguably it looked BETTER in HD because they knew how to light it and create mood and its own unique flavor. -It's even more horseshit because people are STILL going back and watching it even today, as indicated by you saying you've started watching it, so clearly it's not that much of a barrier. But what's even more egregious is the TECHNOLOGY. You might be able to accept updated aesthetics if at least matches what was present during the period... and it doesn't. Holographic displays and communication (holodeck technology AT ALL, frankly - it's possible it was there, but TNG seemed pretty adamant that the holodecks were fairly new, very impressive technology), weapons not looking or acting like they traditionally did, Enterprise and Discovery having R2D2-style repair droids that certainly did not exist in TOS, the wrong sound effects being frequently employed, replicator technology for good-looking food instead of food dispensers that gave out marshmallows and cubes, and honestly the tech level shown in Discovery looks just as advanced - if not MORE advanced than seen on TNG 100 years later. And this is a minor thing, but despite the attempt to make the future LOOK futuristic, from a cultural perspective, the future looks... way too damn similar to now. The excessive swearing (it was said in particular in Star Trek 4 that while they certainly did cuss, it was less common and they sure as hell weren't dropping F-bombs), a party on Discovery that looked like a rave (when previously it seemed like the most popular music and culture of the 23rd/24th century was considered fairly high-brow entertainment [classical music, Shakespeare, great works of literature and plays, etc.] - and while you could certainly argue that that snootiness and love of that stuff is a problem with Star Trek and a sign of how sterile and homogenized it is, THAT is the future they presented and a character in Voyager loving some of the goofier parts of 20th century culture like jukeboxes and old sci-fi serials was considered unusual), and just the general way people talk betrays the idea that the writers aren't thinking about how society changes in the future. It's just the modern day, but with cooler technology. But hey, let's set aside the general aesthetics - some people aren't going to mind that and find

ways to handwave away a lot of stuff (even Discovery season 2 TRIED to handwave away stuff like the holographic communications, but did a piss-poor job of it). This brings us to the problem of the WRITING. And the problem with the writing is a big Michael Burnham-shaped indentation. To be clear, I don't mind Michael as a character or her actress - there are interesting aspects to her, centering a Star Trek show around the science officer is a neat idea (though that means you should probably NAME IT AFTER HER and not around the ship, because it suggests this is a standard ensemble group and not JUST her)... but the actual execution is that it feels like the entire universe bends over backwards for HER. She has a unique relationship with a beloved longtime character that is retconned in. She has unique relationships with several important characters to the point where the fate of billions of people hinges on her and the decisions she makes. She is presented as almost always correct about everything, and those that oppose her are often wrong, naïve, or active enemies. Now, this is less of an issue in the third season - but that has its own unique problems - but in the first season, the resolution of two major storylines (mirror universe and the Klingon war) revolves around her and her relationship to the Terran Emperor and Lorca. In season 2, her mother trying to help or save her is the basis of the ENTIRE friggin' plot with time travel and the like, with special knowledge and history having to do with her and everyone ready to abandon their lives for her so she won't be alone when she has to go to the future when arguably they barely know her (the timeline of the show is debatable). Season 3 has a few different problems with her - the first is that she keeps being involved in things that don't concern her (why is she going down to Trill?) and she keeps violating orders. Now, her violating orders is a problem throughout the entirety of Discovery - in fact, it's kind of the instigating factor OF the series. And arguably, other Star Trek characters are guilty of that and they face no consequences, just as she faces none... and yet it's the brazenness with which it happens, and in those other series it's arguable because the series tries to avoid excessive continuity changes for its episodic nature, so the status quo MUST return to normal... but Discovery is pivoted as one of MAJOR continuity, so her lack of consequences (and indeed eventual PROMOTION) is baffling to the point of frustration. Now again, let me be clear here - she is not a bad character in and of herself. Honestly what it shows is that being the science officer on a starship is not where her talents lie. She should be in a position where she has a lot more freedom to act and not in a major command structure... but being in that command structure, what we see in season 3 is that she lacks the discipline, emotional maturity, responsibility, leadership qualities, and general other traits necessary to be a Captain. Only once during season 3 did she display such a quality - putting the safety of the Federation above a friend and colleague... but other times she will happily disobey orders and put herself and others in harm's way, creating potential new problems. Now, again, Star Trek is rife with characters doing that... but usually not the Captains. And, in fact, when this happened once on DS9 with one officer disobeying orders and putting their own personal feelings above the greater responsibility, it was made VERY clear that the incident would mean that they would never be able to command a starship because of the unofficial reprimand. What's even more frustrating about her is that the character is ALWAYS shoved to the forefront so much to the point where we just get sick of her. SHE is the one giving log entries (usually pretty piss-poor ones, at that - very flowery and nonsensical and kind of dumb) and not the Captain. SHE is the one given so much focus and how the plot of the episode affects her. Barely anyone else gets any focus episodes - I STILL can't

remember the names of some of the secondary characters because they're so rarely said, and a PTSD-related plotline in season 3 for one of the secondary characters basically gets resolved OFF-SCREEN. Michael would be fine if we actually had a chance to miss her... but we never do. Arguably one of the best episodes of the show is in season 2, when it focuses on Saru and his people because Michael DOES take a back seat. It's his story and his development and problems relating to him and his people. And even if, again, we forgave the idea of so much focus on her even in plots that aren't about her... she never seems to really change that much. She'll TALK about how she's changed, but I see no real difference in the way she acts (MAYBE season 1 to 2, where in season 1 she was stiffer and more Vulcan-like, but that's it). But hey, let's assume that's not a problem for you - you really, REALLY like Michael and are fine with so much focus on her. Simply put, the writing of the rest of the show... is just kind of dumb. The ship is powered by magic mushrooms that let it teleport everywhere because the universe has super fungus capillaries throughout it that nobody can see and also it's magic and can resurrect the dead. The time travel plot of season 2 doesn't make any sense when you sit down and diagram it. Well-established Trek lore is just kind of sprinkled in, but now in ways that doesn't match what it was before or at least in ways that completely recolor how it's supposed to work, because it needs to serve THIS plot. Everyone remembering a murdererous monster fondly after she leaves because "Hey, she was coooool." The explanation for the big mystery in season 3 is just fricking stupid and one of the two big reasons why I've finally given up on Discovery, because it's just so absurd, doesn't match how anything works, and just feels like the writers giving the middle finger to the audience because they care more about "YOU MUST FEEEEEEL THINGS!" instead of it making sense. And indeed, there is certainly a balance to be made of plot vs. emotion-driven storytelling - some stories are dumb, but are forgivable because the character writing and emotion are so strong that they override how goofy the plot is... but sometimes a plot is just so dumb it overrides anything I'm SUPPOSED to feel. And it would help if I already liked the show, already gave it some benefit of the doubt... but I don't and it hasn't done enough to impress me. A little thing that's a problem with ALL of current modern Trek shows is that whole sprinkling lore thing - I don't think a single episode goes by in ANY current modern Trek series that doesn't have a random reference to classic Trek lore. A name, a line of dialogue, etc. It comes across like the creators don't trust you to enjoy it on its own merits, but want you to like it because "Hey, remember thing? We know about thing! Like us because we mentioned thing!" But hey, I recognize that these are things that other people may not have any problem with or just disagree in general. But for me and my family, these are the big ones that keep us from enjoying it. Hell, my brother and dad still watch it for hatewatching purposes, but I was done after season 3. I gave it plenty of chances to impress me, and while each season MARGINALLY got better as it went along, I'm tired of waiting to actually like it and to stop feeling like it thinks I'm a fucking idiot. If other people still like it, great - it clearly appeals to them in a way that it doesn't appeal to me and they are free to enjoy it. Other people probably have their own issues, but this long, rambly bit is the major stuff for me.

[bigskydreaming]

Hi! I was reading a fanfic and it brought up Roy and Dick's fight, which I see a lot of in fics but never what they fought about and consequently why they don't talk. I thought it was a vague excuse/reason why Roy was Jason's friend not Dick's anymore but this fic brought up when Dick was batman so I was wondering if there was actually a fight between them? Btw I really enjoy your metas! They're v thought out and well articulated. Also it's v easy to separate what's your opinion and what's fact which is. Very helpful for me

Yeah this is one hundred percent a fanon thing that's kept deliberately vague to justify why Roy in his friendship with Jason seems to have no positive thoughts or concerns about Dick whatsoever. Now granted, Dick and Roy are not nearly as close in the New 52 as they were pre-Reboot. The lack of their friendship there is definitely one of the things I disliked most about the Reboot - and I actually don't care if Jason and Roy are friends tbh, its the total erasure of his history with Dick as if he can't be friends with both, that like, bugs most.

But so like, yeah, Roy and Dick aren't super close when they interact on the Titans in the New 52, but there's literally nothing in any of their interactions that explains the complete absence of him from Roy's life or a reason that Roy would like, hate him the way he tends to in a lot of Jason-centric fics.

When you factor in pre-Reboot stuff though, it starts to get a LOT more.....uh wyd? And this is why I have trouble buying that people just write Roy and Jason the way they do because its the only thing they know from recent comics. Like one, most fans talk about how they don't even read the source comics, so there's no reason their knowledge of the characters or events would be limited to just recent comics if they're going off wiki summaries and scans anyway. And second, most fans AREN'T limited in their knowledge to just recent comics.

Like, the second people start writing Roy and Jason and Kori but with their pre-52 characterizations and references to events from THAT timeline, it all gets very messy, the way they're like, completely antagonistic towards Dick a lot of the time. Because Roy and Dick were always solid. Yes, they fought. A lot. But they always, ALWAYS made up afterwards. They had conflict about Roy's drug addiction - it didn't stop Dick from being there to support him through rehab, or Dick being the first person Roy called to help him get Lian after he learned of her existence. Dick literally held Lian before Roy ever did? He's the one who first put her in Roy's arms for the first time.

(Which is the prime grudge I and most Dick Grayson fans have about Roy and Jason fics which make Jason like, the absolute apple of Lian's eye. If you want to expand Lian's circle of loved and trusted ones to include Jason as Roy's friend and thus her uncle, like go for it! But there's zero reason that should require invalidating and erasing the fact that Dick was this little girl's adored godfather and uncle for pretty much her entire life. And the way Dick is just shoved offstage from Lian's life entirely, to slot Jason into his place as though they're completely interchangeable, its like....THAT'S the kind of thing that gets people irey about how Jason 'steals' Dick's dynamics and character relationships.

Because there's nothing saying they both can't be major players in Roy and Lian's lives! But just that they're not interchangeable! You need to develop the specific role Jason plays there WITHOUT just overwriting everything Dick actually did in relation to the two of them pre-Flashpoint, which is what you're drawing from the second you write Lian, unless you're specifically going with the few appearances we've had of her within literally just the last year.

But I mean, when people just search and replace Dick Grayson in all Roy and Lian's pre-Reboot stories and act like Jason was the one doing all of that instead.....why wouldn't fans of the source material be annoyed by a character getting credit for interactions and things done for Lian and Roy that Jason literally NEVER DID, while at the EXACT SAME TIME, conjuring some mysterious, unnamed 'Falling Out' that Roy and Dick had, that was clearly all Dick's fault, and resulted from him being basically excised entirely from Roy and Lian's lives?

Same with Kori, for the record, and like despite being Dick's ex, she and Dick have NEVER been like, estranged? She and Dick have often been close even after their breakup. None of it makes any sense, and the fact that a lot of fans don't even try to make it make sense or justify it, and expect other fans to just be fine with settling for an inexplicable reversal of Dick's every actual dynamic with these characters while setting up Jason to occupy the exact same role Dick played in these other characters' lives, like.....lol. Its fun.)

Anyway, back to your question, like, there are fights you can go with pre-Reboot as the source of various conflicts between Dick and Roy - but again, I maintain its just as crucial that they're always written as getting past them. They have a very tempestuous relationship because they are the two people MOST likely to call each other on their shit, two of the two people WITH the most shit in common due to the parallels in their childhoods and the roles they've occupied in the Titans and the superhero community in general, and the two people most resistant to being called out on their shit by each other, lol. Mostly in that case because like, they do recognize that they have a lot in common and understand each other very well, so the second the other is calling them out for something, they're usually like "ugh, if HE'S saying this, its probably true and I am just not prepared yet to be wrong about this. I need more time being unjustifiably rawr about things." Its like that thing where they both look at each other doing something that feels familiar or calls back to their own reasons for doing something and they're like ugh I'm in this picture and I don't like it.

So they clash. A lot. But always with the implicit bedrock of like, there's nothing either of them can do or say to the other that will push the other away for good.

They fought over Roy replacing Dick as leader of the Titans when Dick's wedding fell apart, even though Roy actually didn't want to do it and was kinda pushed into it by the government, but again, Dick like, got over it and realized it was for the best and forgave Roy for it that very same issue. And on and on. It always went like that. So there's plenty of stuff that can be used or pointed at as a source of conflict between the two, but the part I'll always call unbelievable is the idea that they never make up after one of these fights. Why now? What fight, specifically, is so bad between them that despite everything else they've gone through AND gotten past, they can't get past this one? Y'know?

So yeah, that's my take on this. There is no definitive falling out between Dick and Roy as many fics like to point to in order to shove him offscreen and make room for Jason in Roy and Lian's lives, and personally, I just don't find it necessary and I actually think it makes Roy look REALLY bad. Because when you're not specifically detailing all the things that Dick has actually DONE for Roy, the lengths to which he's been there for his friend, and like, specifically invalidating each and every one of them as something that never happened in a particular fic, then literally anyone who reads that fic and has their own awareness of Dick and Roy's friendship is kiiiiiinda likely to be reading that and thinking wow what an ungrateful asshole, when Roy's just written as bitching about Dick with Jason and sandbagging him without any real explanation as to WHY, beyond just 'oh they had a fight years ago.'

(And coming up with some random awful thing that Dick did to justify Roy hating him now isn't like, a superior alternative, lmao, because again, its still just trashing one character for the sake of getting him out of the way of two other characters' friendship and people are going to think what they think about that).

Anyway, my now standard stock disclaimer that like, there doesn't actually need to be a canon fight obviously, for people to just write things this way and handwave that Dick and Roy had an epic falling out years ago and now they just hate one another or whatever, or just Roy hates him or vice versa. Obviously people are free to do what they want. They don't need a reason other than "I want to write it this way so Jason and Roy are friends and Jason doesn't have to 'share' him with Dick or have his friendship be overshadowed by their greater history together." That just happens to be a reason that no Dick Grayson fan is ever really going to be happy about, lol, for what should be perfectly obvious reasons, so it honestly shouldn't be surprising to people that fans of the source material often gripe about it.

Because yeah fanfic is a tremendous opportunity to transform the source material into something better, but if what's better for some fans actively takes away what was working perfectly well for other fans the original way, they're going to say that. Especially in a fandom where so many new fans take their view of the characters and their dynamics from fics rather than the source material - when fandom has that much of an influence on what new fans perceive to be 'canon,' fans are perfectly within their right to emphasize what is ACTUALLY canon and what isn't, so that new fans at least have the opportunity to determine for themselves what take they want to go with, instead of just accepting at face value that the nature of say, Dick and Roy's relationship is just that Roy hates Dick because of some mumble mumble ancient history vague mumble details not found mumble mumble fight.

[phoenixyfriend]

Yet Another “Deidara is Related to Naruto” Fic Concept

Okay so you know how Deidara is the only person in canon to share Naruto and Minato's highlighter yellow hair? And there's all those fics where Dei is Naruto's half brother?

So let’s flip that a bit.

(Once again with help from @firebirdeternal​)

Thought being this: Minato was an Iwa infiltrator's mission baby, and Dei is Minato's ludicrously younger half-sibling who ends up in Minato's care for hand-wave reasons.

Ends up screwing the whole plot because Minato and his team have to pass on the Kannabi mission due to Infant Acquisition.

(Minato having to deal with "Explosions!" the Toddler is... really funny. Kakashi and Obito don't have a Dramatic Death-based falling out they just have to bond over babysitting the world's least safe child.)

I have two (2) ideas on how Deidara ends up in Minato's care. One is more of a shitpost than the other.

We’ll start with the Serious Drama idea.

There was an Iwa nin that went undercover in Konoha at some point, slept around a bit, got someone pregnant, and dipped before they had to take responsibility. Said Iwa nin was aware of the kid, but also like. Undercover. And also a dick. And like sixteen.

Anyway, Minato's mom never told him about his dad beyond "he was a jerk who ditched us, I don't have photos," and then died on a mission when Minato was relatively young, so Minato didn't know just WHERE his dad was from.

Fast forward a solid twenty-five years or so, and that Iwa nin has gotten married. Iwa nin is now early forties, married a somewhat younger woman (thirties), and caused a pregnancy, this time with the intent to stick around.

Unfortunately, Iwa nin is a shitty husband, and his wife only realizes this most of the way into the pregnancy, and can't just divorce him, because she's clan (the husband is not), and that sort of thing has Social Consequences. So she does something risky... and fakes her death.

And then proceeds to go to Konoha, because she knows about Minato, even saw a pic and got his name once because her husband got a little tipsy once and talked about it, and admitted that he'd gotten a buddy in infiltration to snap a photo a few years back.

And so Deidara's mom sneaks her way across the continent, and dies shortly before or after arriving in Konoha. It’s somewhere the dad won't follow if he realizes she's alive, and because what little she's heard about Minato at that point is generally not terrible. The war hasn't ramped up enough for him to pull The Bullshit, so all she has is the info that the infiltration buddies got her husband.

Definitely lives long enough to provide a name and basic info on who the relative is, but dies before Minato gets back from a mission.

Alternately, Jiraiya is the one who does the intelligence legwork necessary to figure out all the connections and then drops Baby Deidara in Minato's lap because Family is Important to orphans like them but then also does nothing to help because he is Jiraiya.

AND NOW THE CRACK OPTION

So most of the How Babies Happen backstory is technically the same, but Deidara arriving in Konoha is not an intentional situation, but rather a sealing mishap.

As one does.

Kushina just wanted to use a seal to locate other Uzumaki survivors and Minato figured he'd test it first since his chakra is less volatile and whoops.

Minato: Hey, maybe I'll find out who my dad is!

The seal was supposed to just give them a general direction and distance. Like "36.2 miles, 32.3 degrees east of north. 73.9 miles, 2.5 degrees south of west." etc

It was not supposed to reverse summon An Entire Baby.

Note, Deidara’s exploding chakra is a kekkei genkai that I'm saying he got from his mom because Minato doesn't have it, but the hands are likely the kinjutsu. That said, I want Minato to be like "Ah. Hand mouths. That's... can someone get Tsunade please?"

Kushina: I'm not an expert on babies, so I could be wrong, but is this normal??

Kushina: I deeply hope that was a thing the baby already had before we accidentally pulled it through seal-space.

Kushina: His hair is like yours? Maybe he's like a cousin or a nephew? Minato: I guess??? Should. Should we figure out how to send him back? His parents must be freaking out. Kushina: Uhhhhhhh [handwave reason to keep the baby]

The scene HAS TO boil down to Kushina going "Wait shit are we parents now?"

Minato: No! I mean, I--I want to, yes, eventually, but I wasn't planning on anything this soon and really we should get married first and also I think this is technically my brother and--

I had two ideas for why they wouldn’t immediately try to send Dei back, and Birdie offered one, but here’s the best option IMO.

Deidara's chakra blows up the seal before they can figure out how to reverse what they did. Before they can even analyze what went wrong.

They kept notes but something something spilled ink idk. They gotta start from scratch.

Equally likely: They kept notes but they're basically grad students and those notes were all done in a caffeine-fueled 36-hour Coding Binge and literally not even Master-Sealer-Master-Codebreaker Jiraiya can decipher what the fuck they were doing, let alone them.

Frankly they just can't unscramble this egg so they have to just Do Their Best

They have to get a blood test done by Tsunade or Oro to figure out who this kid even is. The hair helps but??? Whomst are you, child?

And then Jiraiya's like 'Yeah, I know those hands. Kid's from Iwa.'

And the war’s already underway so they can’t admit to accidentally stealing an Iwa child.

There's not really a way to say "Hey we accidentally kidnapped this baby" and still save political face because nobody is going to believe it was an accident anyways so? I guess we just have this baby now.

Probably there’s a name tag on his shirt or something so he’s still Deidara.

Kushina: Minato, seriously, you're old enough to be the baby's dad, just have him call you tou-chan. Minato: But!!! Kushina: We can make Uzumaki babies later, take care of your technically-brother baby now.

Naruto is born and Kushina's just like "How strong are your family's hair genes???"

Technically-uncle Deidara who is like Naruto's older brother is going to be the worst influence on the Chaos baby.

Never let Obito babysit.

Naruto: I want to do pranks. Deidara: I want to explosions. Obito: Seems reasonable. Let's do it!

Anyway, Obito and Deidara never know what kind of ‘friendship’ they had in the other timeline.

Meanwhile, Rin is so ready to help, like she’s not exactly a huge fan of babies or kids, not like Obito is, but she is determined to help and keeps looking up child growth charts and stuff.

Kakashi is terrified that he’s going to break a baby.

Kakashi does not want to hold the baby.

Kakashi does not want to be in the same room as the baby.

Kakashi is going to sit on the outside wall with a sword and make sure nobody hurts the baby, but he will not go near the baby.

Deidara’s like four years older than Naruto and probably Kushina has him hang out with Itachi since Kushina visits Mikoto so often and Mikoto’s already had her first.

Deidara does not like Itachi.

It’s fine.

Being a 'new dad' doesn't excuse Minato from being involved in the war effort but it does change his schedule up enough to miss Kannabi and I stand by this.

[leqclerc]

Idk if you kept the same age difference in the Nora AU but Seb is retired and Charles no so I'm assuming there is still some difference shdfj so I was thinking... Seb and Charles playing with Nora, chasing her around the garden, then Seb plops down on the grass like "ugh my knees are killing me" and Charles goes "old man!" and of course Seb is having none of it so the next time Charles runs close enough to him he tackles him and pins him to the ground like "old man, uh? you seemed to like this old man just fine last night" and Charles is flushed and panting a bit from the running around but also mh 😳 and then Nora sees them and "oh! TICKLE FIGHT!" and she and Seb gang up on poor Charles who kinda had it coming shdjdj

Oh my god this is perfect 😭💕 Also, I mean, I’m loving all the asks I’m getting but having someone actually engage with an AU I made up in my silly little head and have thoughts about it is just...So special 💖🥺

Yeah, still have their canon age difference (because idk I’m a fan of the exactly ten years between them thing 👀). In this scenario Seb retired post-2020. They adopted Nora when she was a baby and then I guess the main bulk of the action takes place around 2022 (if you slightly handwave the timeline) or 2023 when she’s a toddler and Charles and Max are fighting for the championship. Seb mostly chills in the Swiss countryside, looking after Nora whenever Charles has a race weekend or some sponsorship event, but they’ve learned to compromise and split their time between Monaco and Switzerland because Charles is, well, Charles about it and that’s where his family lives and Seb doesn’t want to keep him or Nora from that. 

I can see him still being involved in like some karting academy (I believe Charles has set up his own one so maybe he helps out with that) or with TonyKart in Lonato or something. They probably hang out with the FDA kids too (since Seb ends his career as a Ferrari-aligned driver) for maximum chaos.

Also please 🥺😭💕 Seb with his knees ashdfjgrhty They’re so incomprehensible and disgustingly in love and horny I’m 👀 looking hard 🙏🏻Ahhh and Nora taking it as “oh we’re playing a game?” sort of thing as kids do ashdjf They make me so soft 😭Charles doesn’t even have to fake his amusement, they literally take him down and he dissolves into a fit of laughter. 

Also, Nora with the chickens and ducks in Switzerland! They like her of course but nip at Charles’s ankles whenever he gets too close asjasdh

Off-topic but gosh Seb showing up to the paddock with her lives in my head rent free 👉🏻👈🏻 She endears herself to everyone and, much like Charles, enjoys the attention they give her. The Ferrari mechanics affectionately start calling her a little principessa. At some point Max wages psychological warfare against Charles/Ferrari by giving her back in a signed Red Bull snapback (which she ends up getting attached to, much to Charles’s chagrin.) It’s chaos asdfr

[glassprism]

Do we know what year poto takes place in? She mentions order your fine horses which suggests it's pre 1890's but it doesn't seem it would be much earlier

Ah, the timeline question.

Traditionally, fans have placed Phantom as taking place in 1881, based on Leroux’s line that “The events do not date more than thirty years back.” As the book was published in 1911, this would place the events as no further back than 1881, though it could take place later than that. However, within the book, Madame Giry reads off a prediction that in 1885, her daughter Meg will become Empress; since this obviously has not occurred yet, though she thinks it will, it means the events of the book must be before 1885 but on or after 1881. If you’re interested, Tumblr user @fdelopera wrote this post analyzing the internal chronology of the book, and places the events in 1884.

Now this is just Leroux, the other adaptations might (and sometimes are) quite different. Susan Kay’s novel, at least, takes the traditional route and places the events squarely in 1881, as noted by her helpful dates before every section of the book.

The musical, though, is a different story, and it’s a bit of a mess. As @operafantomet notes in this post, when the musical takes place has different a lot, ranging from the 1850s to the traditional 1881, and this is reflected somewhat in the costume design, which are more mid-1870s in style. Adding to this is the fact that productions for a time (plus the recent restaged tour) would use an alternate stanza for ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’, in Christine sings that she has been mourning her father for “three long years”. This would mean that the show takes place three years after the death date on Papa Daae’s grave, which tended to be 1870.

And then Love Never Dies came out, and it went and claimed that its events take place in 1905, and repeatedly states that the events of Phantom were “ten long years” ago, which means Phantom took place in 1895, much later than most fans considered. It lets us know not just through officially released material, but in a little date card at the beginning of the DVD, which claims that the events of Phantom occurred in:

What makes it even funnier is that the DVD of the 25th anniversary production also has a nice, informative date card, which tells us when the auction takes place in, and guess what date it is:

The same year that LND occurs?? So the graying, wheelchair-bound Raoul of the auction is the same Raoul in LND? Wow, Raoul, the events of LND aged you really badly. And really rapidly, for that matter. Basically, the timeline of the musical is a mess, and many productions have just handwaved the issue away by saying the original takes place in the “late 19th century”.

Finally, a couple of miscellaneous adaptations. Phantom of Manhattan, which is sort of a prototypical LND, set the events of Phantom in 1893, his basis for that being that Leroux described a sudden power failure in the book, which could only be done with electrical lights and which were installed later than 1881. And of course, we have the 2004 film, which places the main events in 1870. A fair amount of fans have pointed out the problems this causes, first in that the Opera Garnier had not been built then and the second being that Paris was under siege for part of that year. The Garnier problem is solved by having the events take place in a completely different opera house (that also just happens to have an underground lake), but the siege is just kind of ignored. Perhaps it’s an alternate universe where the Franco-Prussian War never took place.

So the short answer is that traditionally it was 1881, but some of the most popular adaptations have actually been all over the place in regards to date.

[ryqoshay]

TA Followup: Sleepover Night

Followup Post for Tri-Arame: Sleepover Night

Author’s Notes Continued:

I believe I may see Setsu’s parents a little different than some other authors. Which is fine of course, I love seeing how other authors interpret characters, especially ones that receive no development in the series and we’re left putting together inferences based on the character we do see.

That said, I look at her parents through the lens of my own experiences with my parents. My sister and I grew up more or less as latchkey kids. My father was a salesman who traveled, a lot, for much of my childhood. My mother went to law school while we were still quite young as was thus busy studying many nights. Later, in high school, when my parents separated, my mother worked two jobs and was busy with that. So while both held high expectations of my sister and I, they really lacked the time, energy and availability to keep close tabs on us. They only saw the end obvious results, like test scores, final grades, concert performances, etc. They didn’t see how my sister and achieved those results.

This is how I see Setsu’s parents. So long as she maintains her grades and keeps showing results, the fact that her methods include spending time with the idol club, watching anime or reading manga at night and the like is ultimately overlooked. Setsu is able to maintain the façade of a model student and they don’t dig deeper than that surface.

This changes in SIFAS, but I’m hesitant to go into too much detail in my fic as I await Season 2 of the anime. But early timeline stuff like this should be fine.

Also, Mrs. Uehara’s joke about Yuu is also taken from my childhood. The parents of my best friend treated me as part of their family and several of my friends, well into high school, talked about my mother as if she were their own.

Next up, Yuu jokingly referring to Mrs. Ueheara as “Ayumama” came up in a conversation with @myonmukyuu​. Thank you for that wonderful idea. I’m happy to use it.

Then we have the plushies. I’m going with the idea mentioned by several individuals along the lines that parents can sometimes see things like “all anime is Pokemon” or other similar overly broad generalizations about whatever “those darn kids” are doing. Setsu’s parents have little idea of what anime actually is, or just know a handful of kids shows, and she is able to bypass that with the plush toys that are not from those shows.

Spoilers for those reading in chronological order, but Sasuke is indeed in the room, but Setsu hasn’t noticed him. Ayu has covered his terrarium with a pink blanket; it’s the “something” under the shelves. Another thanks to myon for this suggestion. Apparently, snakes can sometimes get ornery or extra reclusive when shedding, so covering their tanks can help. This will be why Setsu doesn’t know about him when she finds the terrarium in the clubroom later.

As for Ayu’s room, SIFAS gives us a nice view here.

Yes, they’re crammed around that tiny table. I was going to give Setsu a red cushion but “pastel red” is basically pink, or close enough, and Ayu already has that one. So I went with pastel RGB and had Ayu break out a third, blue cushion for her new guest.

Next is the bit with Rina’s game. This entire part exists primarily to reference this adorable artwork. And of course, continue the pattern of bringing up Ayu’s hair obsession; specifically Setsu’s hair. And have Yuu tease them both about it.

And establish that Ayu plays mobile games with Rina. Yuu and Setsu do as well, but I imagine they prefer console and PC games. I’ve touched a bit on this topic and fully intend to continue to explore them in future chapters.

Finally, I muddled around far more than I intended with the last part. But anything that seems to not flow as well as it could or should, or is redundant or whatever, I will happily handwave as being Setsu’s own meandering thoughts as she falls asleep.

List of all TA scenes

AO3 link if you prefer that format

[gallavictorious]

The best thing about writing fic for shameless is that you can hand wave literally anything and it will still probably be more consistent than what has been written into the actual show. You can ignore physics, time and space, the aging process, the law, geography, whatever, and it still won’t be any more outlandish than anything the writers do. So I wouldn’t worry about the details. Just write what you want!

Hiya, nonnie!

I'm assuming this was sent in response to a recent flurry of anons discussing whether it's possible for Ian to be an EMT again and the rules of parole? If so, I'm not entirely sure how you came to the conclusion that the discussion was happening because I – or anyone else – were doing fic research, but in general, sure, Shameless sometimes settles for handwaving and so if anyone wants to do the same in fic, it'll be consistent with the show's relationship to reality. (Though that discussion also made it clear that we sometimes lack the knowledge to make any real calls on whether or not Shameless is actually handwaving things. They're not all that concerned with a consistent timeline, though, that's for sure.)

However – and I want to be very clear on this – if people prefer to have their plots tethered to reality and don't like seeing things on the show/in fic that doesn't feel realistic to them, or are unwilling to include them in their own stories for the same reason, that's absolutely fine, too. I don't really vibe with going around telling others they shouldn't care about that sort of thing just because the show doesn't always – or telling them that they should care, for that matter. If realism matters to people, let it matter to people; if it doesn't, let it not. We don't need to police each other's stances on the relative importance of onthology; it's okay to each have our own preference. :)

[aces-to-apples]

from the wip sampler basket: the spark of black that i seem to love pls?

That is Cody/Maul in the "Maul & C(l)o(nes)" series, for an anon asker I believe, which switches up the timeline a little bit so that Maul and Savage are together and in the Plotting stage when the Hardeen Arc happens. They head to Coruscant, learn that Kenobi's Fine, Actually, and then *handwave handwave* porn!

79’s, as the eye-searing sign above the building proclaims, is poorly lit, well-stocked, loud, and filled to bursting with patrons. Mostly clones—their brown skin and broad features quickly becoming familiar—but also a surprising number of others—dancing droids and Twi’leks, primarily, along with the odd Siniteen, Dug, and Falleen—all highlighted by fluorescent tubes and colorful advertisements.

He feels the interest of a few beings fixate upon him as he moves cautiously through the crowd, and those who are not swayed by a flicker of Force suggestion, he bares his teeth at in warning. More than one of them, clones and non alike, somehow feel even more interested by the display, but they all politely avert their gazes and ignore his presence.

It feels odd, that their minds do not fill with fear, yet they turn away from him, regardless.

[thegirlwholied]

I haven’t heard before that there was changes made from the OT before, can you recall some of them? Also what was your opinion on the Luke and R2D2 appearance in the finale? I’ve heard varied verdicts on it (ranging from people calling it fanservice to people being really angry that grogu was taken away so fast after din got him back)

Oh wow the changes made to the OT, WELL...

My guess is you maybe have heard of these changes before without realizing what they were referring to. If you’ve ever heard or seen the phrase “Han Shot First”... you’ve heard of these changes. 

So the first Special Edition, re-released in theaters, was in 1997, & it added back in deleted scenes (that the story didn’t really need imho, looking at you, repetitive Han & Jabba interaction), new visuals, played with sound/color etc. ...so, messing 20 years on with elements Star Wars won Academy Awards for, which, fine, cool, just a special edition project except... 

Except the tweaks kept coming. Most notably with the 2004 DVD changes to bring the OT better in line with the prequels, changes which, personally, I categorize as “thanks I hate it”. 

Here’s the much, much more thorough Wikipedia breakdown. And the Wookieepedia breakdown of the same.

...oh no even my version of a ‘sum up’ isn’t going to be brief, is it...

Filed under ‘annoys-me-personally-the-most’ change? The Return of the Jedi end across-the-universe montage where the Gungans are celebrating, Coruscant’s liberating itself, Anakin Skywalker’s Force ghost suddenly looks like Hayden Christensen... please leave me with the happy Ewoks & characters we care about & the older version of Luke’s father he just said goodbye to please! AND the Empire’s fall post Death Star II all too easy...  and likely contributed to the sequels’ choice to firmly establish (via Jakku) a timeline of a rapidly defeated-Empire/fully-fledged New Republic within a year of RotJ, which closes the door on way too many potential still-fighting-the-ongoing-Empire adventures.

One of the smartest things The Mandalorian’s done, in my opinion, is to bring back the Imperial Remnant, and YES, they actually used that phrase in a recent episode, and yes I geeked out about it. The falling Empire, with warlords jostling in the vacuum of power, becoming increasingly ragtag is just a vastly interesting antagonist to me than the ‘it’s the Empire but with a dumber name’ First Order. 

Generally: I think The Mandalorian’s a smartly-made show. Fanservice is not a bad thing; it just needs to be approached intelligently, and imho, the finale scene was incredibly smart fanservice. The moment the Child was revealed to be Force sensitive, way back in episode 2, the time period we’re in demands that Luke become involved in the narrative. You can delay it, sure, but we, the audience, are aware of one Jedi in existence, one Jedi who’s looking to rebuild the Jedi Order, and so from that point on it’s really only been a matter of time. The moment Din Djarin is given the quest of finding other Jedi, the thought  is “Luke”. Any other Jedi, like Ahsoka, is coming from ancillary material that not every fan is as familiar with: you can handwave it with ‘it’s a big galaxy’ but especially when you’re trying to reach as many fans as possible, the natural answer is Luke Skywalker. 

And it doesn’t really make sense, for Luke Skywalker, central hero of the franchise, to do nothing and just have the Child (...I still can’t say ‘Grogu’ with a straight face) be delivered to him on some temple or such. We’ve also already had sitting-out-the-action Luke in Force Awakens. We also had Ahsoka deny she’s a Jedi. Luke arriving in the way he did, fulfilling the narrative function of ‘here’s a Jedi, here’s what a Jedi can do’ in the show for the first time, in a scene reminiscent of Vader’s Rogue One hallway scene? Oh damn that was good. That was chills-down-the-spine good from the ‘one X-wing’ arriving on.

...Of course then he inevitably had to pull back his hood and then we’re in uncanny valley territory. CGI’d!Luke didn’t really blink. He both looked-and-did-not look like Luke Skywalker. My sister pointed out he looked like an Instagram filtered Luke, where the filtered eyes don’t blink, and yes exactly.

Do I wish they’d just recast him? ...No? Hard call? They’d already played with de-aged Luke in Rise of Skywalker, and they’d already recast characters in Solo: so it’s a weird mix currently. Does this ultimately lead to a place where Donald Glover or Alden Ehrenreich interacts with a de-aged Luke? They’ll probably avoid that, but theoretically! I’m happy that Mark Hamill’s happy he got to play the character again; I just wish the technology was a little better & less creepy.   

...and writing-wise I don’t know why we didn’t get Luke Skywalker crouching down to get more face-to-face greeting the kid. (Or introduce himself! I get why they avoided an “I’m Luke Skywalker and-” moment, but how could they resist!) They were going for more RotJ-austere Luke, and Jedi shock-and-awe, and I’m sure were limited by technology too... but at least Artoo rolling up, and of course he would be with Luke, provided more warmth!

As to people being really angry that the kid was taken away so fast after Din got him back... well, it’s a finale. As powerful as they’ve established him to be, training for ...Grogu... seems essential; this happening felt inevitable to me, but placing it where it did allowed it to be both a surprise and bittersweet. I found it good writing. They have set up a problem now though: the adorability of a baby Yoda has been a drive for the show and usually an episode highlight; how long they’ll go without showing us that cute little green face is an interesting mystery. The longer they stall in bringing him back, the more impact the return will have. But fans want baby Yoda! So will the writers be able to resist?

And that drives us back to my thoughts on fanservice: it is not a bad thing to give fans what they want. That’s part of what media/fiction of all kinds exist for. That’s the entertainment part!... but there’s also the art part. And that’s where fanservice becomes a negative: when it detours or derails, when it distracts or detracts from the story being told. Where narrative purpose is buried under a pile of ‘here you’ll like this!’ Giving us Luke was imho the best kind of fanservice: downright well-done entertainment that fit the narrative. It worked, in the same way the show itself works, for me. 

What happens next, though... both for The Mandalorian and the myriad Star Wars projects announced... what kind of fanservice that will be remains to be seen. 

[xenodile]

If I had one complaint about XCOM Chimera Squad it’s that I just do not at all buy the timeline the game tries to present.

5 years after XCOM 2.  Just 5 years and we’ve got aliens and hybrids in significant positions of authority and influence, we’ve got former invaders neatly adapting to society, I don’t buy it.

It took the US 250 years to even have a black president, no way are the majority at large just gonna be fine with putting aliens in charge again after a global military occupation.  Humans were still the largest population on Earth even at the height of the Advent regime, and while people can be good, it takes time for cultures to heal.

And the aliens that were part of Advent weren’t there by choice!  It’s not a matter of “Oh the Elders aren’t in charge guess I can do what I want now”.  Hybrids were grown in tubes, not “converts” from existing humans!  Sectoids, Vipers, Mutons, Chryssalids, Andromedans, and whatever other aliens I’m not remembering right now were all genetically modified and mind controlled, hell floaters/archons were Frankensteined abominations from a race that didn’t meet the Elders’ expectations.  Even without the pyschic influence of the Elders, the majority of the aliens would still be instinctively hostile and violent because they’ve been so extensively modified and brainwashed.  It would take a while for things to settle down.  There would have to be a concentrated effort on the part of XCOM to rehabilitate former invaders into peacetime life, not something they’d just do on their own.

I believe in a future of the XCOM setting where aliens and humans integrate and live in harmony but I don’t think it would happy so fast and as seemlessly as Chimera Squad presents it.

Also that Torque has a totally normal human voice despite vipers clearly not having the mouth/vocal structure for it with not so much as a handwave as to why.

[madeofsplinters]

Dear Creator (Star Wars Rare Pairs 2020)

Hello, Star Wars Rare Pairs partner! I'm excited to be in this gift exchange with you and I'm sure I'll like whatever you create! Please take all my prompts and likes as suggestions only and feel free to take the pairings in any direction that speaks to you. However, I've discovered how much I like it when the people I'm assigned to write very detailed letters, so I'm writing one for you in hopes that it sparks some ideas.

General likes / DNWs will be listed first, and then I'll go further into my feelings about each specific pairing.

==========

GENERAL SHIPPING LIKES - Power imbalances - Inappropriate use of the Force - D/s, but also dynamics that subvert standard D/s expectations: bratting, switching, topping from the bottom, submissives with strong personalities, pairs of tops with contrasting styles - Villainfucking, and/or a general "being evil is hot" vibe - Messed-up characters in messed-up situations caring deeply about each other in their messed-up way - Strong focus on the characters' desire & pleasure, on the psychology of sex at least as much as its mechanics - Consensual sadism - Possessiveness - Telepathy / psychic connections - Primal kink - Petplay or animalistic behavior - Characters who own up to their mistakes with each other - Cuddling/snuggling - Sex magic / sex rituals - Dirty talk

OTHER GENERAL LIKES - Disability, neurodivergence, trauma, and mental illness being explored in realistic ways - Angst - Hurt/comfort - Whump - Crack - Crack treated seriously - Moments of softness, hope, or levity even in dark stories - Dark characters improbably doing cute or vulnerable things - Character study - Characters being themselves in the most extra ways - Settings being themselves in the most extra ways - Settings or parts of settings being somehow alive - Spiritual topics, especially fleshing out the beliefs and practices of a fictional religion or exploring how that religion's adherents feel about it - Tense ballroom/banquet/formal scenes - Unreliable narrators, dramatic irony, and "Rashomon" structures - Playing around with structure and format in general (feel free to make me something totally off-the-wall formatwise) - Monsters - Dinosaurs - Blankies

DNW/DO NOT WANT - Scat/watersports - Explicit underage sex - Euthanasia - Onscreen major harm/death to children (offscreen or referenced is fine) - Asphyxiation with an environmental cause (e.g. air running out in a spacecraft)

==========

WILHUFF TARKIN / DARTH VADER

I will read almost anything to do with this ship, but here are some of the things I'd be particularly delighted to see explored.

- The ambiguous, subtle power dynamic between them and how each of them likely interprets how that works in a different way. Especially if it extends to a kink dynamic, but even when it's just their working relationship it's fun. - Working together on Imperial stuff. One of the things that separates Vader/Tarkin from many similar villain pairings, IMO, is that they're genuinely a good team despite their squabbles. - Creative explorations of how Vader's disability affects his approach to intimacy. - Tarkin and primal kink: there is *so* much low-hanging fruit here. He's literally hunted Vader for sport in canon! I love all the weird-ass hunting-related bullshit in Tarkin's canon backstory and I like explorations of how that affects his outlook on life. - Tarkin being one of the few "normal" people who get to see how some of the weird mystic Sith stuff at the heart of the Empire works, and how he feels about that, and how Vader feels about being seen that way.

==========

NATASI DAALA / WILHUFF TARKIN

I have developed a guilty fascination with this pairing. The power imbalance is HUGE, but that's sort of the point? My favorite approach for this pairing is stuff that acknowledges how fucked up it is, and how that affects the characters, while also showing what they desire & enjoy about it (especially what Daala desires/enjoys).

I am aware that this ship pushes up really hard against the Underage tag, and that explicit underage sex is one of my DNWs, and that can be a fine line to walk. There are various approaches you can take: you can handwave that Daala was 18-19 when they got together (since canon is vague - or at least the Wookieepedia is - and that age range honestly makes more sense given the rest of the timeline); you can set the story a little later when their relationship has been established for a few years; or you can just not write any onscreen sex. Any of these are fine. I just don't want the really graphic underage stuff.

Ship-specific prompts: - What did Daala actually learn from Tarkin while he mentored her? What were the lessons like? - Stolen moments in bizarre locations because ~*~secrecy~*~ - Both of them geeking out excitedly about objectively horrific Imperial superweapons - Entire military campaigns that are secretly also a weird D/s game (she has command of such-and-such ships; but who has command of her?) - Tarkin is a famous public figure and Daala canonically wrote an excellent analysis of the Tarkin Doctrine in school; what did she think of him before they got together? - What does Daala think about the Carrion Plateau? Did Tarkin ever secretly take her there?

==========

ENFYS NEST / QI'RA

The SOLO movie introduced so many awesome ladies and then didn't do enough with them! And, of the possible ships that can be imagined for them, I especially like the idea of Enfys/Qi'ra simply because of how both characters contrast. They're both very tough, accomplished leaders who play outside the bounds of the law, but in everything from their gender presentation to their methods of work to their willingness to cooperate with the Empire they are complete opposites! What kind of sparks would fly if those opposites attracted? What would one of those sets of wiles look like pitted against the other?

(Also, I like Enfys's mask... >.>)

Ship-specific prompts: - One of them captures the other! Sexual tension ensues. - Most people haven't seen Enfys's face, which means she can go incognito without her armor and not be recognized... Except by a few. Qi'ra is now one of the few. This gives her leverage. - There's a lot of room to play with Enfys and gender, given that she's a young woman who wears bulky armor and uses a voice modulator and is mistaken for a man. A trans or genderqueer reading of this character is very easy and I'm definitely up for that. But there's also a lot of room to play with a cis Enfys simply noticing the differences in how she's treated as an unarmored woman vs. an armored "man," and having feelings about that and/or skillfully taking advantage of it. - Qi'ra is very well-trained in combat herself - if they were both unarmored, how would a physical fight between the two of them go?